“This contraction reflects a difficult year for Nigeria, which included weaker inflation-induced consumption demand, an increase in pipeline vandalism, significantly reduced foreign reserves and a concomitantly weaker currency,” the office said in a report.

Oil production – Nigeria’s economic mainstay – fell to 1.833 million barrels a day last year after 2.13 million bpd in 2015, it added, blaming militant attacks in the Niger Delta oil hub.

The non-oil sector fell only by 0.33 percent in the fourth quarter, the office said.

“The very shallow contraction in non-oil GDP growth in Q4 2016, raises hope of a more meaningful recovery in non-oil GDP in Q1 2017, buoyed both by improved budget spending and some improvement in FX availability,” said Razia Khan, Chief Economist Africa at Standard Chartered Bank.